India and Bangladesh hold border conference in Mizoram

Aizawl: A five-day Indo- Bangladesh joint border conference was held in the first week of October in Aizawl with delegates from both countries deliberating on the border issue between the two countries.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the conference on October 4, the Surveyor General of Bangladesh, Brigadier General Zakir Ahmed, who headed the Bangladeshi delegation said that the conference did not discuss illegal infiltration and movement of insurgents along the border areas.

“The conference is a routine activity and dealt with the demarcation of the border between the two countries at Mizoram sector,” he said.

He said that the Bangladesh government do not deal with trespassing border issue which is the responsibility of Border Security Force (BSF).

“We work with the Survey of India to demarcate the boundary pillars,” he said, adding that erecting pillars at Mizoram sector will be completed within a few years.

Denying that some villages in Mizoram are being fenced out, Survey of India Director Sanjay Kumar, who headed the Indian delegation said that there was no any border dispute between India and Bangladesh.

As per the normal norms, fencing should be done 150 yards away from zero point and fencing was done by the BSF in India site.

He said that there might have been mistake in fencing done by the BSF and the matter would be brought up before the centre.

Kumar said that people living along the border areas are allowed to do cultivation within zero point to the fencing line except building a permanent structure.

He added that at least 48 pillars have been erected at Mizoram side in two years and efforts are on to erect 67 more pillars along the border.

During the joint conference which will conclude on Saturday, both delegates will discuss a wide range of issues including joint report submitted by BSF/BGB on the status of boundary pillars, selection of sites for establishing camp headquarters or field survey camp on both the sides, conduct of joint field inspection, division of responsibilities between India and Bangladesh for construction and maintenance of BPs along all sectors of IBB according to odd-even principle, Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) observation on BPs and updation of strip maps with satellite imagery.